US6853169B2 — Digital voltage regulator using current control

Claim 1

Independent Claim 167 words

A voltage regulator having an input terminal to be coupled to an input voltage source and an output terminal to be coupled to a load, the voltage regulator comprising: a) a plurality of slaves coupled in parallel, each slave including: i) a switching circuit to intermittently couple the input terminal and the output terminal in response to a digital control signal, ii) a filter to provide a generally DC output voltage at the output terminal, iii) a current sensor to generate a digital feedback signal representing the current passing through the switching circuit; and b) a digital controller to receive and use the digital feedback signals from the plurality of slaves to generate a digital control signal for each slave, the digital controller configured to operate active slaves of the plurality of slaves at determined phase offsets to minimize voltage ripple and maintain the output voltage at the output terminal at a substantially constant level, the phase offsets representing time delays between the operation of each slave.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 167 words

A voltage regulator having an input terminal to be coupled to an input voltage source and an output terminal to be coupled to a load, the voltage regulator comprising: a) a plurality of slaves coupled in parallel, each slave including: i) a switching circuit to intermittently couple the input terminal and the output terminal in response to a digital control signal, ii) a filter to provide a generally DC output voltage at the output terminal, iii) a current sensor to generate a digital feedback signal representing the current passing through the switching circuit; and b) a digital controller to receive and use the digital feedback signals from the plurality of slaves to generate a digital control signal for each slave, the digital controller configured to operate active slaves of the plurality of slaves at determined phase offsets to minimize voltage ripple and maintain the output voltage at the output terminal at a substantially constant level, the phase offsets representing time delays between the operation of each slave.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 44 words

The voltage regulator of claim 1 , wherein the digital controller includes a digital control algorithm, the digital control algorithm configured to select a reference slave from the active slaves, and calculate a phase offset for each remaining non-reference slave of the active slaves.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 23 words

The voltage regulator of claim 2 , wherein the digital control algorithm is configured to select a designated slave as the reference slave.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 27 words

The voltage regulator of claim 2 , wherein the digital control algorithm is configured to rotate the selection of the reference slave through the plurality of slaves.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 43 words

The voltage regulator of claim 2 , wherein digital control algorithm is configured to calculate a phase offset for each non-reference slave such that each of the active slaves are (360°/n) degrees out of phase where n is the number of active slaves.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 30 words

The voltage regulator of claim 1 , wherein the digital feedback signals from the plurality of slaves each indicate whether the current in a corresponding slave exceeds a threshold current.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 40 words

The voltage regulator of claim 6 , wherein each of the current sensors from the plurality of slaves generates a plurality digital feedback signals, each signal representing whether the current in a corresponding slave has exceeded a different threshold current.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 40 words

The voltage regulator of claim 6 , wherein each of the current sensors from the plurality of slaves generates a plurality digital feedback signals, each signal representing whether the current in a corresponding slave has crossed a different threshold current.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 54 words

The voltage regulator of claim 6 , further comprising a fault protection circuit to override the digital control signal of a slave and open the switching circuit in the slave if the current passing through the switching circuit in the slave exceeds a safety limit, the safety limit being larger than the threshold current.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 35 words

The voltage regulator of claim 9 , wherein the fault protection circuit generates a second digital feedback signal which is received by the digital controller if the current in a slave exceeds the safety limit.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 42 words

The voltage regulator of claim 6 , wherein each of the switching circuits from the plurality of slaves includes a first transistor to couple the output terminal to the input terminal and a second transistor to couple the output terminal to ground.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 73 words

The voltage regulator of claim 11 , wherein each of the current sensors from the plurality of slaves includes a first sensor to generate a first digital feedback signal on a first feedback line indicating the current passing through the first transistor in a corresponding slave and a second sensor to generate a second digital feedback signal on a second line representing the current passing through the second transistor in the corresponding slave.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 62 words

The voltage regulator of claim 12 , wherein each of the first and second feedback lines in a corresponding slave are coupled to a third feedback line in the corresponding slave which is coupled to the digital controller, and the digital controller includes logic to determine which transistor in the corresponding slave is represented by the signal on the third feedback line.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 46 words

The voltage regulator of claim 11 , wherein each slave further comprises an interpreter located on the slave which receives the digital control signal for the slave and converts the digital control signal into a command to switch the first and second transistors in the slave.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 88 words

The voltage regulator of claim 14 , wherein the digital control signal generated by the digital controller for each slave includes a first control signal on a first control line and a second control signal on a second line, and the interpreter in a corresponding slave converts the first control signal into a command to open the first transistor and close the second transistor and converts the second control signal into a second command to close the first transistor and open the second transistor in the corresponding slave.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 56 words

The voltage regulator of claim 15 , wherein the digital control signal generated by the digital controller for each slave includes a third control signal on a third control line, and the interpreter in a corresponding slave converts the third control signal into a command to open the first and second transistors in the corresponding slave.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 44 words

The voltage regulator of claim 16 , wherein the interpreter in corresponding slave converts the third control signal into a command to open the first and second transistors if the second transistor is closed and the current falls below zero in the corresponding slave.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 39 words

The voltage regulator of claim 1 , wherein the switching circuits, filters, and current sensors of the plurality of slaves are fabricated on a first IC chip, and the digital controller is fabricated on a second, separate IC chip.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 32 words

The voltage regulator of claim 1 , further comprising a state sensor to generate a digital state signal indicating the state of the switching regulator which is received by the digital controller.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 33 words

The voltage regulator of claim 1 , wherein the slave includes an interpreter which receives the digital control signal and converts the digital control signal into a command to switch the switching circuit.

Claim 22

Independent Claim 175 words

A method of operating a voltage regulator having an input terminal to be coupled to an input voltage source and an output terminal to be coupled to a load, the method comprising: a) through each of a plurality of slaves coupled in parallel, i) intermittently coupling the input terminal and the output terminal with a switching circuit in response to a digital control signal, ii) filtering an output of the switching circuit to provide a generally DC output voltage at the output terminal, iii) generating a digital feedback signal representing the current passing through the switching circuit with a current sensor; and b) receiving and using the digital feedback signals from the plurality of slaves in a digital controller to generate a digital control signal for each slave, the digital controller configured to operate active slaves of the plurality of slaves at determined phase offsets to minimize voltage ripple and maintain the output voltage at the output terminal at a substantially constant level, the phase offsets representing time delays between the operation of each slave.

Claim 23

Independent Claim 175 words

A method of operating a voltage regulator having an input terminal to be coupled to an input voltage source and an output terminal to be coupled to a load, the method comprising: a) through each of a plurality of slaves coupled in parallel, i) intermittently coupling the input terminal and the output terminal with a switching circuit in response to a digital control signal, ii) filtering an output of the switching circuit to provide a generally DC output voltage at the output terminal, iii) generating a digital feedback signal representing the current passing through the switching circuit with a current sensor; and b) receiving and using the digital feedback signals from the plurality of slaves in a digital controller to generate a digital control signal for each slave, the digital controller configured to operate active slaves of the plurality of slaves at determined phase offsets to minimize voltage ripple and maintain the output voltage at the output terminal at a substantially constant level, the phase offsets representing time delays between the operation of each slave.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2008-02-08	2008-08-09	2009-02-08	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2012-02-08	2012-08-09	2013-02-08	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2016-02-08	2016-08-09	2017-02-08	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Digital voltage regulator using current control

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