System and method for controlling output-timing parameters of power converters

• US 6,936,999 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2003
• Issued: 08/30/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2003
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Bel Power Solutions Inc.
• Original Assignee: Power-One Incorporated (ABB Limited)
• Inventors: Chapuis, Alain
• Primary Examiner(s): BERHANE, ADOLF D
• Application Number:
  US10/388,831
• Publication Number:
  US 20040178780A1
• Time in Patent Office: 900 Days
• Field of Search: 323/282, 323/318, 323/351, 714/22
• US Class Current: 323/282
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 1/08 Three-wire systems; Systems having more than three wires
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 1/082 Plural DC voltage, e.g. DC supply voltage with at least two different DC voltage levels
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/008 Plural converter units for generating at two or more independent and non-parallel outputs, e.g. systems with plural point of load switching regulators
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 1/08 Circuits specially adapted for the generation of control voltages for semiconductor devices incorporated in static converters

Abstract

A system and method is provided for utilizing output-timing data to control at least one output timing parameter of a point-of-load (“POL”) regulator. Specifically, a power supply controller (“controller”) is adapted to transmit output-timing data to at least one POL regulator. In one embodiment of the present invention, each POL regulator includes an output builder, a control unit and a storage device. The control unit is adapted to store the output-timing data in the storage device. The control unit and the output builder are then adapted to produce an output having at least one output timing parameter in accordance with the output-timing data. Examples of output-timing data include sequencing data, turn-on data, turn-off data, termination data, slew-rate data, etc. For example, a POL regulator may be adapted to utilize output-timing data, or a portion thereof (e.g., slew-rate data), to generate an output having a particular slew rate. Similarly, a POL regulator may be adapted to utilize output-timing data, or a portion thereof (e.g., sequencing data, turn-on data, etc.), to determine (or calculate) a period of time to wait (e.g., delay period) before the output is generated. In other words, output-timing data can be used to produce a series of outputs in a particular order, or sequence.

Claims

1. A power control system comprising:

a power supply controller adapted to transmit output data;

a data bus connected to said power supply controller; and

at least one point-of-load (“

POL”

) regulator connected to said data bus, said at least one POL regulator comprising;

a storage device adapted to store said output data;

an output builder adapted to generate an output; and

a control unit adapted to determine at least one timing parameter of said output in accordance with said output data.

7. The power control system of claim 1, wherein said storage device further comprises at least one register.

8. The power control system of claim 1, wherein said data bus further comprises a bi-directional serial bus.

2. A power control system comprising:

a power supply controller adapted to transmit output data;

a data bus connected to said power supply controller; and

at least one point-of-load (“

POL”

) regulator connected to said data bus, said at least one POL regulator comprising;

a storage device adapted to store said output data;

an output builder adapted to generate an output; and

a control unit adapted to determine at least one timing parameter of said output in accordance with said output data;

wherein said output data further comprises at least one of turn-on data providing a command to turn-on the corresponding POL regulator, voltage set-point data providing a desired output voltage of the corresponding POL regulator, slew-rate data providing a rate of change of output voltage of the corresponding POL regulator, turn-off data providing a command to turn off the corresponding POL regulator, and sequencing data providing a delay period between either a turn-on or turn-off command and actual generation of a corresponding output.

3. The power control system of claim 2, wherein said control unit is further adapted to determine a turn-on period to generate desired output in accordance with at least one of said turn-on data, said sequencing data, said slew rate data, and said voltage set point data.

4. The power control system of claim 2, wherein said control unit is further adapted to determine a turn-off period of time to terminate a selected output in accordance with at least one of said turn-off data, said sequencing data, said slew rate data, and said voltage set point data.

5. The power control system of claim 3, wherein said turn-on period is provided by said power supply controller in said sequencing data.

6. The power control system of claim 3, wherein said turn-on period is calculated by said control unit using said sequencing data, said slew rate data, and said voltage set point data.

34. The power control system of claim 4, wherein said turn-off period is provided in said sequencing data.

35. The power control system of claim 4, wherein said turn-off period is calculated by said control unit using said sequencing data, said slew rate data, and said voltage set point data.

9. A method of determining at least one output-timing parameter of at least one point-of-load (“

POL”

) regulator comprising;

receiving output-timing data from a controller;

storing said output-timing data in a POL storage device;

generating an output of said at least one POL regulator; and

using said output-timing data to determine at least one timing parameter of said output.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising receiving enable data from said controller.

10. A method of determining at least one output-timing parameter of at least one point-of-load (“

POL”

) regulator comprising;

receiving output-timing data from a controller;

storing said output-timing data in a POL storage device;

generating an output of said at least one POL regulator; and

using said output-timing data to determine at least one timing parameter of said output;

wherein said step of receiving output-timing data further comprises receiving sequencing data and said step of using said output-timing data further comprises using said sequencing data to determine when said output should be generated.

11. A method of determining at least one output-timing parameter of at least one point-of-load (“

POL”

) regulator comprising;

receiving output-timing data from a controller;

storing said output-timing data in a POL storage device;

generating an output of said at least one POL regulator; and

using said output-timing data to determine at least one timing parameter of said output;

wherein said step of receiving output-timing data further comprises receiving slew-rate data and said step of using said output-timing data further comprises using said slew-rate data to determine the slew rate of said output.

12. A method of determining at least one output-timing parameter of at least one point-of-load (“

POL”

) regulator comprising;

receiving output-timing data from a controller;

storing said output-timing data in a POL storage device;

generating an output of said at least one POL regulator; and

using said output-timing data to determine at least one timing parameter of said output;

wherein said step of receiving output-timing data further comprises receiving turn-off data and said step of using said output-timing data further comprises using said turn-off data to calculate a turn-off delay period corresponding to when said output is to be turned off.

13. A method of determining at least one output-timing parameter of at least one point-of-load (“

POL”

) regulator comprising;

receiving output-timing data from a controller;

storing said output-timing data in a POL storage device;

generating an output of said at least one POL regulator; and

using said output-timing data to determine at least one timing parameter of said output;

wherein said step of receiving output-timing data further comprises receiving turn-on data and said step of using said output-timing data further comprises using said turn-on data to calculate a turn-on delay period corresponding to when said output should be generated.

15. A method determining at least one output-timing parameter of at least one point-of-load (“

POL”

) regulator comprising;

receiving output-timing data from a controller;

storing said output-timing data in a POL storage device;

generating an output of said at least one POL regulator;

using said output-timing data to determine at least one timing parameter of said output; and

receiving enable data from said controller;

wherein said step of receiving output-timing data further comprises receiving sequencing data and said step of using said output-timing data further comprises using said sequencing data and said enable data to determine when said output should be generated.

16. A method of determining at least one output timing parameter of at least one point-of-load (“

POL”

) regulator comprising;

receiving slew-rate data from a controller;

storing said slew-rate data in a POL storage device;

receiving enable data from said controller; and

using said slew-rate data to determine the slew-rate of an output of said at least one POL regulator.

17. A method of determining at least one output timing parameter of at least one point-of-load (“

POL”

) regulator comprising;

receiving slew-rate data from a controller;

storing said slew-rate data in a POL storage device;

receiving enable data from said controller;

using said slew-rate data to determine the slew-rate of an output of said at least one POL regulator;

receiving sequencing data from said controller;

storing said sequencing data in said POL storage device; and

using said sequencing data to determine when said output is to be produced.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said step of using said sequencing data to determine when said output is to be provided further comprises waiting a period of time after said enable data has been received before said output is produced, said period of time being determined by said sequencing data.

19. A method of determining at least one output timing parameter of at least one point-of-load (“

POL”

) regulator comprising;

receiving stew-rate data from a controller;

storing said slew-rate data in a POL storage device;

receiving enable data from said controller;

using said slew-rate data to determine the slew-rate of an output of said at least one POL regulator;

receiving turn-on data from said controller;

storing said turn-on data in said POL storage device; and

using at least said turn-on data and said slew-rate data to calculate a turn-on delay period corresponding to when said output is to be produced.

20. A method of determining at least one output timing parameter of at least one point-of-load (“

POL”

) regulator comprising;

receiving slew-rate data from a controller;

storing said slew-rate data in a POL storage device;

receiving enable data from said controller;

using said slew-rate data to determine the slew-rate of an output of said at least one POL regulator;

receiving turn-off data from said controller;

storing said turn-off data in said POL storage device; and

using said turn-off data and said slew-rate data to calculate a turn-off delay period corresponding to when said output is to be terminate.

21. A point-of-load regulator comprising:

a serial data bus interface;

a storage device adapted to store output data received externally via said serial data bus interface;

a control unit adapted to calculate at least one timing parameter based on said output data; and

an output builder adapted to generate an output voltage in accordance with said at least one timing parameter.

33. The point-of-load regulator of claim 21, wherein said storage device further comprises at least one register.

22. A point-of-load regulator comprising:

a serial data bus interface;

a storage device adapted to store output data received externally via said serial data bus interface;

a control unit adapted to calculate at least one timing parameter based on said output data; and

an output builder adapted to generate an output voltage in accordance with said at least one timing parameter;

wherein said output data further comprises sequencing data and said control unit is further adapted to calculate a time when said output voltage is to be generated, said time being determined in accordance with said sequencing data.

23. A point-of-load regulator comprising:

a serial data bus interface;

a storage device adapted to store output data received externally via said serial data bus interface;

a control unit adapted to calculate at least one timing parameter based on said output data; and

an output builder adapted to generate an output voltage in accordance with said at least one timing parameter;

wherein said output data further comprises slew-rate data and said control unit is further adapted to determine a slew rate for said output voltage, said slew rate being determined in accordance with said slew-rate data.

24. A point-of-load regulator comprising:

a serial data bus interface;

a storage device adapted to store output data received externally via said serial data bus interface;

a control unit adapted to calculate at least one timing parameter based on said output data; and

an output builder adapted to generate an output voltage in accordance with said at least one timing parameter;

wherein said output data further comprises turn-off data and said control unit is further adapted to calculate a turn-off period of time that is to be waited before said control unit terminates said output, said turn-off data being used to calculate said turn-off period of time.

25. A point-of-load regulator comprising:

a serial data bus interface;

a storage device adapted to store output data received externally via said serial data bus interface;

a control unit adapted to calculate at least one timing parameter based on said output data; and

an output builder adapted to generate an output voltage in accordance with said at least one timing parameter;

wherein said output data further comprises turn-on data and said control unit is further adapted to calculate a turn-on period of time that is to be waited before said control unit produces said output voltage, said turn on data being used to calculate said turn-on period of time.

26. A point-of-load regulator comprising:

a serial data bus interface;

a storage device adapted to store output data received externally via said serial data bus interface;

a control unit adapted to calculate at least one timing parameter based on said output data; and

an output builder adapted to generate an output voltage in accordance with said at least one timing parameter;

wherein said output data further comprises at least one of turn-on data providing a command to turn-on the corresponding POL regulator, voltage set-point data providing a desired output voltage of the corresponding POL regulator, slew-rate data providing a rate of change of output voltage of the corresponding POL regulator, sequencing data providing a delay period between execution of other functions by the corresponding POL regulator, and turn-off data providing a command to turn off the corresponding POL regulator.

30. The point-of-load regulator of claim 26, wherein said control unit is further adapted to determine a turn-off period of time to terminate a selected output in accordance with at least one of said turn-off data, said sequencing data, said slew rate data, and said voltage set point data.

31. The point-of-load regulator of claim 30, wherein said turn-off period is provided in said sequencing data.

32. The point-of-load regulator of claim 30, wherein said turn-off period is calculated by said control unit using said sequencing data, said slew rate data, and said voltage set point data.

27. A point-of-load regulator comprising:

a serial data bus interface;

a storage device adapted to store output data received externally via said serial data bus interface;

a control unit adapted to calculate at least one timing parameter based on said output data; and

an output builder adapted to generate an output voltage in accordance with said at least one timing parameter;

wherein said control unit is further adapted to determine a turn-on period to generate a desired output in accordance with at least one of said turn-on data, said sequencing data, said slew rate data, and said voltage set point data.

28. The point-of-load regulator of claim 27, wherein said turn-on period is provided in said sequencing data.

29. The point-of-load regulator of claim 27, wherein said turn-on period is calculated by said control unit using said sequencing data, said slew rate data, and said voltage set point data.