Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC

Texas Instruments Corporation

Ajay Karthik Hari

Bryan Wayne McCoy

Jefferson W Hall

Dhruv Chopra

Armando Gabriel Mesa

Thomas Ciccone

Nikhilesh S Kamath

Alan David Finkel

Takayasu Sato

During a light load (or no-load) operation of a totem pole power factor correction circuit (i.e., PFC), a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller can operate in a skip mode. Further, the PWM controller may disable portions of the PFC to reduce standby power consumption. In this mode, and in this disabled configuration, the output of the PFC may be peak charged over time to a voltage that could be damaging or destructive. This peak charging results from the PFC circuit's inability to fully charge/discharge EMI capacitors between half cycles of the input line voltage. The present disclosure provides circuits and methods to fully charge/discharge the EMI capacitors to prevent peak charging the output.

Output overvoltage protection for a totem pole power factor correction circuit

Operation of a switching power converter, such as to reduce voltage spikes on the secondary side of switching power converters. One example is a method of operating a switching power converter, the method comprising: sensing, by a controller of a switching power converter, a strength-selection signal; and driving, by the controller within a plurality of switching cycles, a control input of a primary electrically-controlled switch, the driving in each switching cycle at a drive strength based on the strength-selection signal.

Methods and systems related to operation of a switching power converter

Reduced voltage switching of the primary switch. At least one example is a method comprising: activating, during a first switching period, a primary switch coupled to a primary winding of a transformer of a flyback topology, the activating induces a positive current in the primary winding; deactivating the primary switch and activating a secondary switch coupled to the secondary of the transformer, the activating the secondary switch during the first switching period and for a duration selected based on a signal indicative of negative current from a prior switching period, and the activating the secondary switch results in a positive current through the secondary winding followed by a negative current through the secondary winding; and discharging capacitance of the primary switch by a negative current in the primary winding responsive to the negative current in the secondary winding.

Switching power converter with reduced voltage switching of the primary switch

According to an aspect, a power supply system includes a plurality of power converters configured to deliver a system load current to a load, where the system load current is a combination of individual load currents provided by the plurality of power converters, and a system performance controller configured to detect a value of the system load current. The system performance controller is configured to determine, using power loss information, values for the individual load currents such that a composite efficiency achieves a threshold condition. The system performance controller is configured to generate control signals to operate the plurality of power converters at the determined values.

Power supply system for controlling load distribution across multiple converters for optimizing overall efficiency

According to an aspect, a power supply system includes a power stage, a power supply controller configured to control operations of the power stage, a metering circuit configured to sense measured conditions of the power stage, and a system performance controller configured to be coupled to the power supply controller and the metering circuit. The system performance controller is configured to set or adjust a control parameter for the power stage based on energy conversion efficiency of the power stage. The system performance controller includes an efficiency computation circuit configured to compute the energy conversion efficiency of the power stage based on the measured conditions, and a control manipulation module configured to modify the control parameter until the energy conversion efficiency achieves a threshold condition.

Power supply system for optimizing a performance metric using artificial intelligence

According to an aspect, a power supply system includes a power stage, a power supply controller configured to control operations of the power stage, a metering circuit configured to sense measured conditions of the power stage, and a system performance controller configured to be coupled to the power supply controller and the metering circuit. The system performance controller is configured to set or adjust a control parameter for the power stage based on standby power of the power stage. The system performance controller includes a standby power computation circuit configured to compute the standby power of the power stage based on the measured conditions, and a control manipulation module configured to modify the control parameter until the standby power achieves a threshold condition.

Power supply system for optimizing standby power using artificial intelligence

According to an aspect, a power supply system includes a plurality of power stages configured to receive an input voltage and generate an output voltage, and a system host device connected to the plurality of power stages. The system host device includes a system performance controller configured to set or update one or more control parameters for controlling the plurality of power stages using overall energy conversion efficiency. The system host device includes an efficiency computation circuit configured to compute the overall energy conversion efficiency based on measured conditions, and a control manipulation module configured to modify the one or more control parameters until the overall energy conversion efficiency achieves a threshold condition.

Power supply system for optimizing overall efficiency using artificial intelligence

According to an aspect, a power supply system includes a power stage including a power switch and an inductor, a power supply controller connected to the power stage, a metering circuit configured to sense measured conditions of the power stage, and a system performance controller configured to be coupled to the power supply controller and the metering circuit. The system performance controller is configured to compute an energy conversion efficiency based on the measured conditions and select a value for a zero voltage switching (ZVS) control parameter that results in the energy conversion efficiency achieving a threshold condition. The ZVS control parameter indicates a magnitude of a reverse current through the inductor to discharge a parasitic capacitance of the power switch.

Power supply system for controlling a ZVS parameter to optimize efficiency using artificial intelligence

Peak primary current control on the secondary side. In a power converter having a primary side and a secondary side separated by a main transformer, example methods include: driving primary current through a primary winding of the main transformer; creating, on the secondary side of the main transformer, a signal indicative of current through the primary winding of the main transformer; and ceasing the driving of primary current through the primary winding when the signal indicative of primary current reaches a predetermined value.

Methods and systems of peak primary current control on the secondary side

An ACF power converter uses a soft start operation to reduce overheating and stress on components. The power converter includes a first transistor and second transistor. A high side driver controls the first transistor, and low side driver controls the second transistor. A first operating potential is provided to the low side driver during a first period of time. The second transistor switches based on an oscillator signal having a first rate of frequency change to generate a second operating potential for the high side driver, while attempting to hold the first transistor in the non-conductive state during a second time period. The first and second transistors switch based on the oscillator signal having a second rate of frequency change during a third time period. The power converter is held in ACF mode and inhibited from changing state for a period of time post soft start.

Active clamp power converter and method of reducing shoot-through current during soft start

Power conversion efficiency using variable switching frequency. At least some of the example embodiments are power circuit controllers including a voltage sense input and a control signal output. The power circuit controller varies an output frequency of the control signal output between a first frequency and a second frequency based on a source voltage supplied to the power controller. Both the first frequency and the second frequency are non-zero.

Power conversion efficiency using variable switching frequency

Bridgeless PFC converters. Example embodiments are methods of operating a power converter including operating the power converter during a positive half-line cycle of an alternating current (AC) source by: charging an inductance through a low-side switch with a first charging current having a first polarity; measuring the first charging current using a low-side current transformer (CT), while shorting a secondary winding of a high-side CT; and discharging the inductance through a high-side switch with a first discharging current having the first polarity. Operating the power converter during a negative half-line cycle of the AC source by: charging the inductance through the high-side switch with a second charging current having a second polarity; measuring the second charging current using the high-side CT, while shorting a secondary winding of the low-side CT; and discharging the inductance through the low-side switch with a second discharging current having the second polarity.

Current sensing for bridgeless PFC converters

A power converter has a power transistor and inductor coupled in a conduction path with the power transistor. A switching frequency of the power transistor is reduced during a light load condition. A pulse width of a drive signal to the power transistor is controlled to select a current through the inductor and power transistor corresponding to the switching frequency to maintain a fixed output power of the power converter, and further to vary the current through the inductor and power transistor to maintain the fixed output power of the power converter over a range of switching frequencies. A first number of pulses of the drive signal to the power transistor during a first time period sets the fixed output power of the power converter. No pulses of the drive signal are provided during a second time period after the first time period.

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Scottsdale, AZ, United States of America

Ajay Karthik Hari