Adaptive control for inductor based buck-boost voltage regulators
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Accused Products
Abstract
Voltage regulators and methods for regulating voltages are disclosed. A switching circuit with an energy-storage element and a plurality of switches may be used to produce a regulated voltage from an unregulated voltage source. A control circuit may be used to monitor both the energy stored in the energy-storage element and the regulated voltage, and operate the switches in cycles when the regulated voltage falls below a threshold voltage. Each cycle includes a first phase with the energy-storage element coupled to the unregulated voltage source, followed by a second phase with the energy-storage element coupled to the output of the voltage regulator, with the unregulated voltage source being coupled to the output of the voltage regulator during a portion of each of the cycles, and wherein the duration of the first and second phases of each of the cycles is a function of the energy stored in the energy-storage element.
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Citations
83 Claims
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1-37. -37. (canceled)
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38. A voltage regulator having an input and output, comprising:
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a switching circuit having an inductive element and a plurality of switches configured to switch the inductive element to the input and output of the voltage regulator; and
a control circuit configured to operate the switches in a buck, boost, and buck-boost mode, and force the switches into a sleep mode only in response to a rise in the output voltage beyond a threshold voltage. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A method of operating a voltage regulator to produce a regulated voltage at its output from a voltage source, the voltage regulator having an inductive element, the method comprising:
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transferring energy from the voltage source to the output of the voltage regulator using an inductive element in a buck-boost mode;
detecting a rise in the output voltage of the voltage regulator beyond a threshold voltage; and
forcing the voltage regulator into a sleep mode only in response to the detected rise in the output voltage of the voltage regulator beyond the threshold voltage. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A voltage regulator having an input and output, comprising:
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a switching circuit having an inductive element and a plurality of switches configured to switch the inductive element to the input and output of the voltage regulator; and
a control circuit comprising means for operating the switches in buck, boost, and buck-boost modes, and means for forcing the switches into a sleep mode only in response to a rise in the output voltage beyond a threshold voltage.
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66. A voltage regulator having an input and output, comprising:
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a switching circuit having an inductive element, a first switch between the input of the voltage regulator and one end of the inductive element, a second switch between the one end of the inductive element and a voltage return line, a third switch between the other end of the inductive element and the voltage return line, and a fourth switch between the other end of the inductive element and the output of the voltage regulator; and
a control circuit having a mode controller configured to operate the switches in buck, boost, and buck-boost modes, and wherein the control circuit further comprises a voltage comparator coupled to the output of the voltage regulator, the control circuit further being configured to force the switches into a sleep mode only when the voltage comparator detects that the output of the voltage regulator has risen above a threshold voltage. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. A voltage regulator having an input and output, comprising:
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a switching circuit having an inductive element and a plurality of switches configured to switch the inductive element to the input and output of the voltage regulator; and
a control circuit configured to operate the switches in a buck-boost mode, and force the switches into a sleep mode only in response to a rise in the output voltage beyond a threshold voltage. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83)
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Specification