Regulator using smart partitioning
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a converter for regulating a DC voltage provided from a power supply to a load;
a control loop for controlling the converter;
a smart gate driver coupled to the power supply, the smart gate driver located on a mixed signal integrated circuit and including an analog feedback signal from the load;
the smart gate driver including one or more of an Analog to Digital Converter, a sampling portion of an Analog to Digital Converter, sigma delta modulator, a decoder, and an encoder located on the mixed signal integrated circuit; and
a decoder for decoding a signal, the decoder being located on the primarily digital integrated circuit;
the encoder used to encode the signal, and the signal is used by the converter to regulate the voltage delivered to the load,wherein the analog feedback signal is encoded using the encoder located on the mixed signal integrated circuit, the encoder comprises an analog to digital converter and a differential encoder connected in series along the control loop.
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Abstract
A disclosed apparatus includes a converter for receiving a supply and regulating a load. The converter uses a gate driver that is controlled by a controller via a control loop. The control loop controls the converter in response to a feedback signal. The controller is located on a first integrated circuit and the gate driver is located on as second integrated circuit. A process geometry of the first integrated circuit is finer than a process geometry of the second integrated circuit.
45 Citations
21 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a converter for regulating a DC voltage provided from a power supply to a load; a control loop for controlling the converter; a smart gate driver coupled to the power supply, the smart gate driver located on a mixed signal integrated circuit and including an analog feedback signal from the load; the smart gate driver including one or more of an Analog to Digital Converter, a sampling portion of an Analog to Digital Converter, sigma delta modulator, a decoder, and an encoder located on the mixed signal integrated circuit; and a decoder for decoding a signal, the decoder being located on the primarily digital integrated circuit; the encoder used to encode the signal, and the signal is used by the converter to regulate the voltage delivered to the load, wherein the analog feedback signal is encoded using the encoder located on the mixed signal integrated circuit, the encoder comprises an analog to digital converter and a differential encoder connected in series along the control loop. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An apparatus comprising:
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a converter for receiving a supply and regulating a load, the converter using a smart gate driver, the smart gate driver including an analog feedback signal from the load, the smart gate driver further including one or more of;
an Analog to Digital Converter, a sampling portion of an Analog to Digital Converter, a sigma delta modulator, an encoder, and a decoder;a control loop for controlling the converter in response to the analog feedback signal; and a controller located on the control loop, the controller controlling the smart gate driver via the control loop; the controller located on a first integrated circuit fabricated using a primarily digital process, and the smart gate driver located on a second integrated circuit fabricated using a mixed signal process a first encoder on the first integrated circuit for encoding a control signal from the controller; the smart gate driver including the encoder on the second integrated circuit for encoding a feedback signal; and a printed circuit board coupled to both the first integrated circuit and the second integrated circuit. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus comprising:
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a circuit coupled to a supply and a load, the circuit regulating a voltage level applied to the load based on a control signal; a controller for controlling the circuit based on a feedback signal received from the smart gate driver, the controller generating the control signal; and a second circuit coupled to the supply and the load, the circuit regulating the voltage level applied to the load based on a second control signal, the second circuit comprising a smart gate driver including an analog feedback signal from the load, the smart gate driver further including one or more of an Analog to Digital Converter, a sampling portion of an Analog to Digital Converter, sigma delta modulator, encoder, and a decoder; the controller also controls the second circuit, the controller controls the second circuit based on a second feedback signal received from the load, and the controller generates the second control signal based the second feedback signal; the controller is on a first digital integrated circuit and the circuit and the second circuit are on one or more mixed signal integrated circuits; and wherein said first feedback signal and said second feedback signal are routed on at least one common circuit trace between said different integrated circuits; a first encoder on the first integrated circuit for encoding a control signal from the controller; the smart gate driver including the encoder on the second integrated circuit for encoding a feedback signal; and a printed circuit board coupled to both the first integrated circuit and the second integrated circuit. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification