Charge pump power savings
First Claim
1. A charge pump, comprising:
- a plurality of switches, each switch of the plurality having a gate coupled to a dedicated driver of a plurality of drivers; and
at least one clamp switch coupled to at least one driver of the plurality of drivers and configured to adjust at least one rail voltage of the at least one driver if an input voltage into the charge pump is greater than a threshold voltage regardless of an output voltage of the charge pump,wherein the at least one clamp switch includes a first clamp switch coupled to a first driver of the plurality of drivers and a second clamp switch coupled to a second driver of the plurality of drivers.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Exemplary embodiments are directed to systems, devices, methods, and computer-readable media for reducing static and dynamic power consumption of a charge pump. In one embodiment, a device may include a plurality of switches, each switch of the plurality having a gate coupled to a dedicated driver of a plurality of drivers. The device may further include at least one clamp switch coupled to at least one driver of the plurality of drivers and configured to adjust a rail voltage of the at least one driver if an input voltage is greater than a threshold voltage. In another embodiment, the device may include a plurality of multiplexers, each multiplexer of the plurality of multiplexers coupled to a portion of an associated switch of the plurality of switches and configured to disable the portion of the associated switch if a clock frequency of the charge pump is below a threshold frequency.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A charge pump, comprising:
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a plurality of switches, each switch of the plurality having a gate coupled to a dedicated driver of a plurality of drivers; and at least one clamp switch coupled to at least one driver of the plurality of drivers and configured to adjust at least one rail voltage of the at least one driver if an input voltage into the charge pump is greater than a threshold voltage regardless of an output voltage of the charge pump, wherein the at least one clamp switch includes a first clamp switch coupled to a first driver of the plurality of drivers and a second clamp switch coupled to a second driver of the plurality of drivers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A charge pump, comprising:
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a first plurality of switches for charging an energy storage element during a charging phase; a second plurality of switches for conveying an output voltage via the energy storage element during an output phase; a first clamp configured to modify a voltage applied to a first switch of the first plurality of switches if an input voltage into the charge pump is greater than a threshold voltage regardless of the output voltage of the charge pump; and a second clamp configured to modify a voltage applied to a first switch of the second plurality of switches if the input voltage is greater than the threshold voltage. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method, comprising:
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comparing a charge pump voltage of a charge pump to a threshold voltage, wherein the comparing comprises comparing the charge pump voltage to a first threshold voltage while the charge pump is in a power savings mode of operation and comparing the charge pump voltage to a second threshold voltage while the charge pump is in a normal mode of operation; adjusting a rail voltage of at least one driver coupled to a gate of a switch of a plurality of switches of the charge pump if the charge pump voltage is greater than the second threshold voltage; and conveying at least one signal from a controller to adjust the rail voltage of the at least one driver. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A method, comprising:
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comparing a clock frequency of a charge pump to a threshold frequency; disabling at least a portion of one or more switches of the charge pump while enabling another portion of the one or more switches if the clock frequency is below the threshold frequency; and conveying a control signal to a plurality of multiplexers, each multiplexer of the plurality coupled to a switch of the one or more switches to disable at least the portion of the one or more switches upon receipt of the control signal. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform instructions for operating a charge pump, the instructions comprising:
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comparing a charge pump voltage of a charge pump to a threshold voltage, wherein the comparing comprises comparing the charge pump voltage to a first threshold voltage while the charge pump is in a power savings mode of operation and comparing the charge pump voltage to a second threshold voltage while the charge pump is in a normal mode of operation; adjusting a rail voltage of at least one driver coupled to a gate of a switch of a plurality of switches of the charge pump if the charge pump voltage is greater than the second threshold voltage; and conveying at least one signal from a controller to adjust the rail voltage of the at least one driver.
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26. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform instructions for operating a charge pump, the instructions comprising:
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comparing a clock frequency of a charge pump to a threshold frequency; disabling at least a portion of one or more switches of the charge pump while enabling another portion of the one or more switches if the clock frequency is below the threshold frequency; and conveying a control signal to a plurality of multiplexers, each multiplexer of the plurality coupled to a switch of the one or more switches to disable at least the portion of the one or more switches upon receipt of the control signal.
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27. A device, comprising:
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means for comparing a charge pump voltage of a charge pump to a threshold voltage, wherein the means for comparing is configured to compare the charge pump voltage to a first threshold voltage while the charge pump is in a power savings mode of operation and comparing the charge pump voltage to a second threshold voltage while the charge pump is in a normal mode of operation; means for adjusting a rail voltage of at least one driver coupled to a gate of a switch of a plurality of switches of the charge pump if the charge pump voltage is greater than the second threshold voltage;
wherein the means for adjusting a rail voltage of at least one driver conveys at least one signal from a controller to adjust the rail voltage of the at least one driver.
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28. A device, comprising:
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means for comparing a clock frequency of a charge pump to a threshold frequency; and means for disabling at least a portion of one or more switches of the charge pump while enabling another portion of the one or more switches if the clock frequency is below the threshold frequency, wherein the means for disabling at least a portion of one or more switches conveys a control signal to a plurality of multiplexers, each multiplexer of the plurality coupled to a switch of the one or more switches to disable the at least a portion of the one or more switches upon receipt of the control signal.
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Specification