Isolated capacitive power transfer

• US 9,780,689 B2
• Filed: 12/07/2015
• Issued: 10/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Inventors: Chen, Lei, Mukhopadhyay, Rajarshi, Morgan, Mark W., Sankman, Joseph A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dole, Timothy J
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kyaw, Htet Z
• Application Number:
  US14/961,440
• Publication Number:
  US 20170117819A1
• Time in Patent Office: 666 Days
• Field of Search: 363 89, 363 2102, 363 17, 363132, 363 24, 363 25, 363 26, 363124, 363 15, 363 16, 363 97, 363 98, 363131
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/123 Suppression of common mode voltage or current
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/01 Resonant DC/DC converters
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/158 including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/28 using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode to produce the intermediate ac
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 3/33571 Half-bridge at primary side of an isolation transformer
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/217 using semiconductor devices only
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/10 Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes

Abstract

A method and device for providing isolated power transfer to a low-power load across a capacitor of a series resonance circuit are shown. The method includes comparing an output voltage received via a feedback loop with a desired output voltage. Responsive to determining that the output voltage is not equal to the desired output voltage, the method determines a sub-harmonic order of the resonant frequency of the series resonance circuit to use as a switching frequency and switches the series resonance circuit at substantially the determined subharmonic order of the resonant frequency.

Claims

1. An electronic device to provide isolated capacitive power transfer to a low-power load, the electronic device comprising:

an inductor connected to a first terminal of a first capacitor to form a series resonance circuit that provides an alternating current (AC) voltage to a low-power load across the first capacitor;

a switching circuit connected to provide a switched voltage to the series resonance circuit at a sub-harmonic of the resonant frequency of the series resonance circuit;

a rectifier connected to a second terminal of the first capacitor, the rectifier providing a rectified voltage to the low-power load;

a feedback circuit connected to change the sub-harmonic at which the switching circuit operates in response to a change in the low-power load; and

a buck converter connected to provide an input voltage to the switching circuit;

wherein the feedback circuit receives voltage information across a feedback capacitor that has a smaller capacitance than the first capacitor;

wherein the feedback circuit is further connected to fine tune the frequency of the switched voltage;

wherein the feedback circuit is further connected to adjust the input voltage provided by the buck converter;

wherein the first capacitor is printed on top of a silicon chip containing the electronic device;

wherein the inductor is an external inductor;

wherein the electronic device provides power in the range of 15-25 mW at sixty percent efficiency across a functional isolated barrier of 0.5-1 kV.

2. An electronic device to provide isolated capacitive power transfer to a low-power load, the electronic device comprising:

an inductor connected to a first terminal of a first capacitor to form a series resonance circuit that provides an alternating current (AC) voltage to a low-power load across the first capacitor;

a switching circuit connected to provide a switched voltage to the series resonance circuit at a sub-harmonic of the resonant frequency of the series resonance circuit;

a rectifier connected to a second terminal of the first capacitor, the rectifier providing a rectified voltage to the low-power load;

a feedback circuit connected to change the sub-harmonic at which the switching circuit operates in response to a change in the low-power load; and

a buck converter connected to provide an input voltage to the switching circuit;

wherein the feedback circuit receives voltage information across a feedback capacitor that has a smaller capacitance than the first capacitor;

wherein the feedback circuit is further connected to fine tune the frequency of the switched voltage;

wherein the feedback circuit is further connected to adjust the input voltage provided by the buck converter;

wherein the first capacitor is printed on top of a silicon chip containing the electronic device;

wherein the inductor is an external inductor;

wherein the electronic device has a form factor less than or equal to about 3 mm by 2.5 mm.

3. A method of providing isolated power transfer to a low-power load across a capacitor of a series resonance circuit, the method comprising:

determining whether an output voltage received via a feedback loop is equal to a desired output voltage;

responsive to determining that the output voltage is not equal to the desired output voltage, determining a sub-harmonic order of the resonant frequency of the series resonance circuit to use as a switching frequency; and

switching the series resonance circuit at substantially the determined subharmonic order of the resonant frequency.

4. The method as recited in claim 3 wherein determining the sub-harmonic order comprises determining a largest subharmonic order of the resonant frequency that will provide the desired voltage at the resonant frequency.

5. The method as recited in claim 4 wherein the sub-harmonic order of the resonant frequency is changed during operation of the series resonance circuit.

6. The method as recited in claim 5 further comprising determining whether the output voltage needs fine-tuning.

7. The method as recited in claim 6 further comprising responsive to determining that the output voltage needs fine-tuning, fine-tuning the switching frequency.

8. The method as recited in claim 6 further comprising responsive to determining that the output voltage needs fine-tuning, adjusting an input voltage to the switching circuit to achieve the desired output voltage.

9. A method of providing isolated power transfer to a low-power load across a capacitor of a series resonance circuit, the method comprising:

determining whether an output voltage received via a feedback loop is equal to a desired output voltage;

responsive to determining that the output voltage is not equal to the desired output voltage, determining a combination of an input voltage and a sub-harmonic order of the resonant frequency of the series resonance circuit that when used as a switching frequency will provide the desired output voltage at the greatest efficiency; and

responsive to the determining, setting the input voltage to the determined value and setting the switching frequency to the determined subharmonic order of the resonant frequency.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 further comprising:

determining whether the output voltage needs fine tuning; and

fine tuning at least one of the switching frequency and the input voltage.