Fault control for switched capacitor power converter
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising fault-control circuitry and a switched-capacitor circuit connected to said fault-control circuitry, said switched-capacitor circuit comprising a set of switches, a set of capacitors, and a port, said set of switches being configured to transition between first and second switch configurations, thereby causing said set of capacitors to transition between forming a first capacitor network and forming a second capacitor network, said port having an average dc current therethrough, said switched-capacitor circuit being configured for connection to an external circuit comprising a switching regulator, wherein said fault-control circuitry is configured to detect a fault in operation of said switched-capacitor circuit and to respond to said fault, wherein said fault-control circuitry is configured to measure at least one electrical characteristic of at least one switch element in said set of switches, wherein said electrical characteristic is selected from the group consisting of a voltage characteristic and a current characteristic, wherein said current characteristic comprises a current through a switch element in said set of switches, and wherein said voltage characteristic is selected from the group consisting of a voltage across terminals of a switch element in said set of switches, a voltage at a terminal of a switch element in said set of switches, and a voltage across terminals of a capacitor in said set of capacitors coupled to a switch element in said set of switches.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Transient or fault conditions for a switched capacitor power converter are detected by measuring one or more of internal voltages and/or currents associated with switching elements (e.g., transistors) or phase nodes, or voltages or currents at terminals of the converter, and based on these measurements detect that a condition has occurred when the measurements deviate from a predetermined range. Upon detection of the condition fault control circuitry alters operation of the converter, for example, by using a high voltage switch to electrically disconnect at least some of the switching elements from one or more terminals of the converter, or by altering timing characteristics of the phase signals.
96 Citations
17 Claims
- 1. An apparatus comprising fault-control circuitry and a switched-capacitor circuit connected to said fault-control circuitry, said switched-capacitor circuit comprising a set of switches, a set of capacitors, and a port, said set of switches being configured to transition between first and second switch configurations, thereby causing said set of capacitors to transition between forming a first capacitor network and forming a second capacitor network, said port having an average dc current therethrough, said switched-capacitor circuit being configured for connection to an external circuit comprising a switching regulator, wherein said fault-control circuitry is configured to detect a fault in operation of said switched-capacitor circuit and to respond to said fault, wherein said fault-control circuitry is configured to measure at least one electrical characteristic of at least one switch element in said set of switches, wherein said electrical characteristic is selected from the group consisting of a voltage characteristic and a current characteristic, wherein said current characteristic comprises a current through a switch element in said set of switches, and wherein said voltage characteristic is selected from the group consisting of a voltage across terminals of a switch element in said set of switches, a voltage at a terminal of a switch element in said set of switches, and a voltage across terminals of a capacitor in said set of capacitors coupled to a switch element in said set of switches.
Specification