Open loop ripple cancellation circuit in a DC-DC converter

• US 9,225,231 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2013
• Issued: 12/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qorvo US, Inc. (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: RF Micro Devices Incorporated (Qorvo, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gorisse, Philippe, Khlat, Nadim, Ngo, Christopher Truong
• Primary Examiner(s): Behm, Harry
• Application Number:
  US14/027,416
• Publication Number:
  US 20140077787A1
• Time in Patent Office: 834 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/0045 Converters combining the concepts of switch-mode regulation and linear regulation, e.g. linear pre-regulator to switching converter, linear and switching converter in parallel, same converter or same transistor operating either in linear or switching mode
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/14 Arrangements for reducing ripples from dc input or output
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/15 using active elements
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 1/0211 with control of the supply voltage or current
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 1/0261 with control of the polarisation voltage or current, e.g. gliding Class A

Abstract

A direct current (DC)-DC converter, which includes an open loop ripple cancellation circuit, a switching supply, and a parallel amplifier, is disclosed. During a calibration mode, the parallel amplifier provides a parallel amplifier output current to regulate a power supply output voltage based on a calibration setpoint. The switching supply drives the parallel amplifier output current toward zero using a switching control signal, such that during the calibration mode, an estimate of a current gain is based on the switching control signal. Further, during the calibration mode, the open loop ripple cancellation circuit is disabled. During a normal operation mode, the open loop ripple cancellation circuit provides a ripple cancellation current, which is based on the estimate of the current gain.

Claims

1. Circuitry comprising:

a parallel amplifier configured to during a calibration mode, regulate a power supply output voltage based on a calibration setpoint;

a switching supply configured to drive a parallel amplifier output current toward zero using a switching control signal, such that during the calibration mode, an estimate of a current gain is based on the switching control signal; and

an open loop ripple cancellation circuit configured to;

during the calibration mode, be disabled; and

during a normal operation mode, provide a ripple cancellation current based on the estimate of the current gain.

2. The circuitry of claim 1 further comprising a direct current (DC)-DC converter, which comprises the parallel amplifier, the switching supply, and the open loop ripple cancellation circuit.

3. The circuitry of claim 2 wherein the DC-DC converter further comprises power supply control circuitry configured to select one of the normal operation mode and the calibration mode.

4. The circuitry of claim 3 wherein during the normal operation mode, an operating current gain of the open loop ripple cancellation circuit is based on the estimate of the current gain.

5. The circuitry of claim 3 wherein during the calibration mode, a calibration circuit is further configured to provide the estimate of the current gain to the power supply control circuitry via an estimated current gain signal.

6. The circuitry of claim 3 further comprising a calibration circuit, such that:

the calibration circuit is configured to receive the switching control signal and provide the estimate of the current gain; and

the power supply control circuitry is further configured to periodically toggle between the normal operation mode and the calibration mode to compensate for drift in the DC-DC converter.

7. The circuitry of claim 6 wherein the drift in the DC-DC converter is based on at least one of changes in an operating temperature of the DC-DC converter, changes in a normal operation setpoint of the DC-DC converter, and changes in a DC source voltage of the DC-DC converter.

8. The circuitry of claim 3 wherein:

a calibration circuit is configured to receive the switching control signal and provide the estimate of the current gain; and

the power supply control circuitry is further configured to compensate for drift in the DC-DC converter using at least one look-up table.

9. The circuitry of claim 8 wherein the drift in the DC-DC converter is based on at least one of changes in an operating temperature of the DC-DC converter, changes in a normal operation setpoint of the DC-DC converter, and changes in a DC source voltage of the DC-DC converter.

10. The circuitry of claim 8 wherein the calibration circuit is external to the DC-DC converter.

11. The circuitry of claim 2 wherein during the calibration mode, a calibration circuit is configured to receive the switching control signal and provide the estimate of the current gain.

12. The circuitry of claim 11 wherein the estimate of the current gain is further based on a frequency of the switching control signal during the calibration mode.

13. The circuitry of claim 12 wherein during the calibration mode:

the calibration circuit comprises a calibration frequency comparator and a calibration oscillator;

the calibration oscillator provides an oscillator output signal having a frequency based on an estimated current gain signal;

the calibration frequency comparator receives the oscillator output signal and the switching control signal, and provides the estimated current gain signal based on a frequency difference between the oscillator output signal and the switching control signal; and

the calibration frequency comparator and the calibration oscillator form a frequency locked loop, such that the estimated current gain signal is representative of the estimate of the current gain.

14. The circuitry of claim 2 wherein:

the parallel amplifier is further configured to during the normal operation mode, regulate the power supply output voltage based on a normal operation setpoint; and

the switching supply is further configured to drive the parallel amplifier output current toward zero using the switching control signal during both the calibration mode and the normal operation mode.

15. The circuitry of claim 2 wherein a DC power source is configured to provide a DC source signal to the DC-DC converter, such that the power supply output voltage is based on the DC source signal, which has a DC source voltage.

16. The circuitry of claim 15 wherein the calibration setpoint is equal to about one-half of a magnitude of the DC source voltage.

17. The circuitry of claim 15 wherein the DC power source is a battery.

18. The circuitry of claim 2 wherein:

the DC-DC converter has an output connection node;

the DC-DC converter is configured to provide a power supply output signal via the output connection node;

the power supply output signal has the power supply output voltage;

the open loop ripple cancellation circuit is coupled to the output connection node;

the parallel amplifier is coupled to the output connection node; and

the switching supply comprises a switching controller, switching circuitry, and a switching inductive element, such that the switching inductive element is coupled between the switching circuitry and the output connection node.

19. The circuitry of claim 18 wherein:

the switching controller is configured to provide the switching control signal to the switching circuitry;

during both the calibration mode and the normal operation mode, a frequency of the switching control signal is based on an inductance of the switching inductive element; and

during the calibration mode, the estimate of the current gain is based on the inductance of the switching inductive element.

20. The circuitry of claim 2 wherein during the normal operation mode, the open loop ripple cancellation circuit is further configured to operate using an operating current gain to approximately maximize cancellation of a ripple current at a desired ripple cancellation frequency.

21. The circuitry of claim 20 wherein the desired ripple cancellation frequency is equal to about 30 megahertz.

22. The circuitry of claim 20 wherein the desired ripple cancellation frequency is about equal to a radio frequency (RF) duplex frequency.

23. The circuitry of claim 2 wherein during the normal operation mode, the ripple cancellation current at least partially cancels a ripple current produced by the switching supply.

24. The circuitry of claim 2 wherein the open loop ripple cancellation circuit comprises a delay circuit, which is configured to during the normal operation mode, receive and delay the switching control signal to provide an input signal, such that the ripple cancellation current is based on the input signal.

25. The circuitry of claim 24 wherein the open loop ripple cancellation circuit further comprises a combined filter and operational transconductance amplifier (OTA), which is configured to during the normal operation mode, receive and high-pass filter the input signal to provide a derived output current, such that the ripple cancellation current is further based on the derived output current.

26. A method comprising:

during a calibration mode, regulating a power supply output voltage based on a calibration setpoint using a parallel amplifier;

driving a parallel amplifier output current toward zero using a switching supply based on a switching control signal, such that during the calibration mode, an estimate of a current gain is based on the switching control signal;

during the calibration mode, disabling an open loop ripple cancellation circuit; and

during a normal operation mode, providing a ripple cancellation current based on the estimate of the current gain.